The Many, Many Flags Of Canada

Flags of Canada. Stephen J. Harper. Sutherland House, 2025. Published in association with the Royal Canadian Geographic Society for the sixtieth anniversary of the maple leaf flag.

What does a prime minister do after retiring from the job? Generally, serve on boards and go on the speaking circuit. Stephen Harper has gone that route, but also takes some interesting detours – most recently, writing a book about flags. Specifically, the flags of Canada: “…the political, historical, and cultural significance behind British and French imperial emblems, and the flags we proudly fly today”.

In a remarkably propitious twist, this book happened to be published now, during a Canada-U.S. trade war in which Canadians are reacting to American economic intimidation and threats to our sovereignty by unfurling the maple leaf in windows, on fences, on cars and trucks, and even in the skies. President Trump’s barrage of unprovoked tariffs combined with his goading revival of the centuries old threat of American annexation have combined to ignite a nationalist fervour unprecedented in recent times. In a country in which patriotism is not typically worn on one’s sleeve, scenes of unmitigated joy broke out in homes and pubs across the country when Connor McDavid scored the goal that won the Four Nations game last Thursday – including a spontaneous victory parade in the small Nunavut town of Baker Lake.

Speaking at a book launch for Flags Of Canada, Harper addressed the elephant in the room, calling for a strong Canadian reaction to the threat from the U.S. administration: “And if I was still prime minister, I would be prepared to impoverish the country and not be annexed, if that was the option we’re facing…I would accept any level of damage to preserve the independence of the country”.

So, it’s a good time for a book about the maple leaf and the wide array of other flags that have played a role in Canada’s history: the flags of New France, the flag of Quebec, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC) flags, the Newfoundland Tricolour and the Newfoundland Red Ensign, Canada’s Red Ensign, all of the provincial flags, the Acadian flag, and of course the maple leaf.

Harper being a self-described vexillologist (vexillology being the study of flags), there are nerdy asides aplenty: “The language of heraldry is blazon, a specialized jargon rooted in Norman English”. Many of the flags we are familiar with today are quite recent in origin, with provinces only starting to create their own distinctive flags in 1960 – the two exceptions being the Scottish-inspired Nova Scotian flag, and the French-inspired Quebec flag (both much older than other provincial flags). Like many books about Canadian history, facts like these reinforce just how young of a country Canada is. The idea of most provinces only getting around to creating a flag in 1960 seems bizarre, until you remember that Saskatchewan and Alberta only joined Canada in 1905, and Newfoundland only did in 1949 (probably against its will, but that’s another story).

And of course, no book about the flags of Canada would be complete without a discussion of the Flag Debate, from which emerged the maple leaf flag we know today. The vast array of flag submissions – some of genuine value, some strangely abstract, some submitted for comedic value – were eventually winnowed down to two: Lester B. Pearson’s submission (pejoratively named the “Pearson Pennant” by detractors, it had two blue bars on the sides and three red maple leaves in the middle), and historian George Stanley’s submission (the maple leaf we are familiar with today). The maple leaf was chosen in a manner that drives home the role that random chance plays in the universe:

“Once the Canadian Red Ensign had been voted down, the Conservative members of the committee preferred the blue-bar design. However, they secretly voted for the red-bar design to prevent a consensus around the prime minister’s flag. The Liberals naturally followed Pearson’s preference, but they privately decided that it would be seen as too partisan. They also voted for the Stanley-inspired option”. It’s an odd origin story, but we love our flag just the same.

Here, you can see the flag committee hard at work:

I would be remiss if I were not to mention what I consider to be a vexillological oversight: the absence of the Métis flag. Blue (or red) with a white central infinity symbol, according to Wikipedia the flag was first used in 1816 by Métis fighters in Rupert’s Land before the Battle of Seven Oaks – a violent confrontation in the Pemmican War fought between the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company. The flag is described as the “oldest patriotic flag that is indigenous to Canada”, and is still in use (mainly the blue version) today. While the introduction to Flags of Canada describes the book as being focused on “Canadian state symbols”, the infinity flag (or the various other battle flags used by Métis fighters) would qualify given that Louis Riel set up a provisional government to negotiate the entry of Rupert’s Land into Confederation. Perhaps in a second edition of Flags Of Canada?

May the flags of Canada, and all other aspects of this country’s great history, continue to be written about, discussed, and debated far into the future!